1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recording tape cartridge including a case for accommodating a reel wound with a recording tape, such as a magnetic tape, and to a drive device into which the recording tape cartridge is loaded and with which the recording tape cartridge is used.
2. Description of the Related Art
A recording tape, such as a magnetic tape, is used as an audio or video recording medium and for storing computer data. The recording tape is typically wound on a reel that is rotatably accommodated in a molded resin case of a recording tape cartridge in order to prevent dust from adhering to a recording surface of the recording tape and to prevent the recording surface from being damaged from contact.
Single reel cartridges (used mainly for backing up information in a computer or the like), which comprise a case accommodating a single reel wound with a recording tape, and double reel cartridges, which include two reels for feeding and taking up the recording tape (e.g., audio and video cassettes), are known. These cartridges are loaded in a drive device (a recording/reproducing device) to record information on or reproduce information from the recording tape.
When the recording tape cartridge is loaded in the drive device, the case is positioned within the drive device, and then the recording tape is pulled out from the case, guided along a predetermined path, and moved close to a recording/reproducing head. As a result, information is recorded on the recording tape, or information recorded on the recording tape is reproduced.
In order for the recording tape cartridge to be positioned horizontally within the drive device, the drive device is typically disposed with a bucket that is movable horizontally and vertically and includes regulating protrusions against which two portions of a front surface (i.e., the surface disposed in the direction in which the recording tape cartridge is loaded) of the case abut. The drive device is also disposed with positioning pins that are inserted into a pair of positioning holes in a bottom surface of the case, with the positioning holes being disposed separately from each other along a straight line perpendicular to the loading direction.
However, in the conventional recording tape cartridge, the positions of the two portions on the front surface of the case against which the regulating protrusions of the bucket abut are not defined on the basis of the positions of the positioning holes (i.e., the portions on the front surface of the case do not coincide with the positions at which the pair of positioning holes are projected on the case front surface). Therefore, there has been the problem of poor dimensional accuracy with respect to the positioning holes.
For this reason, the case (or the straight line connecting the pair of positioning holes) is sometimes slanted with respect to the loading direction while the regulating protrusions of the bucket abut against the front surface of the case, so that the positioning holes of the case do not coincide with the positioning pins of the drive device.
When the bucket is moved downward in this state, the edges of the positioning holes can be shaved off by the positioning pins or the like, whereby the opening of the positioning holes is widened and the accuracy with which the recording tape cartridge is horizontally positioned in the drive device becomes poor. Further, when the positioning pins are not completely inserted into the positioning holes due to the positioning holes and the positioning pins not being aligned, the accuracy with which the recording tape cartridge is vertically positioned in the drive device also becomes poor.
Poor accuracy with which the recording tape cartridge is positioned in the drive device inhibits the recording tape from being properly pulled out from the case, and may cause the drive device to fail. There has thus been, together with the densification of the recording tape (increase in recording capacity), a demand to improve the accuracy with which recording tape cartridges are positioned in drive devices, and it is conceivable for the aforementioned problem to become more pronounced.